Chapter Summaries

Stranded in space with the sleeping baby Fulgrim, Horus was captured by Trazyn the Infinite, who recognized them as priceless additions to his collection. Horus agreed to be displayed with Fulgrim in Solemnace’s most secure gallery, secretly planning to exploit his immunity to escape stasis and take over the museum.

• Horus realized his wrecked Stormbird had no supplies or working distress signal and feared he and Fulgrim would die in space.
• A Necron tomb ship found them and Trazyn identified the survivors as Horus Lupercal and infant Fulgrim.
• Horus decided to let Trazyn collect them so he could enter Solemnace and use his Temporal Wraith ability to evade the museum’s restraints.
• Horus negotiated for himself and Fulgrim to be displayed together in the safest, most central, heavily guarded part of the museum.
• Trazyn eagerly accepted Horus’s terms and drew the Stormbird toward Solemnace.

Horus arrived at Trazyn’s gallery on Isstvan with baby Fulgrim, where Trazyn welcomed them as prized exhibits. Horus saw that Trazyn had made a frozen tableau of the Isstvan V massacre the backdrop to his new display, and privately marveled at the Necron’s obsessive dedication.

• Horus stepped off the Stormbird carrying the sleeping baby Fulgrim and found Trazyn waiting with his Royal Guard and a crystal display case.
• Trazyn praised Horus and Fulgrim as masterpieces and led them through the corridors to their prepared Eternal Gallery.
• Horus asked Trazyn to show him the home he had prepared for them.
• Trazyn revealed a circular exhibition hall centered on a crystal display case and backed by a frozen reconstruction of the Isstvan V massacre.
• Trazyn explained that he had spent three centuries reconstructing the battlefield and intended it as a backdrop for the beginning of Horus’s redemption.

Trazyn presented Horus with replicas of the original Horus’s armour and weapons, and Horus donned them, becoming a towering, fully armoured Warmaster. When baby Fulgrim woke and saw him, he was overwhelmed by terror and unleashed a psychic scream.

• Trazyn revealed Horus’s black Terminator Armour, the Talon of Horus, and Worldbreaker, urging Horus to wear them.
• Horus placed the sleeping Fulgrim in a padded crystal display case and put on the armour and weapons.
• Horus admired his new power, and Trazyn declared the result a perfect living epic.
• Fulgrim woke, recognized the armoured Horus, and screamed with such psychic force that the exhibition hall’s crystal structure resonated.
• Horus rushed to comfort Fulgrim, but the baby kept screaming and pounded his breastplate.

Horus entered Trazyn’s collection under temporal stasis, using his Temporal Wraith ability to remain free while appearing frozen. After Trazyn left Solemnace, Horus shattered the display case and began his escape with baby Fulgrim.

• Horus calmed baby Fulgrim, then entered Trazyn’s display case and let the stasis field pass through him.
• Horus waited undetected as Trazyn transported the display case to Solemnace and placed it in the Main Exhibition Hall.
• A Necron noble summoned Trazyn away to deal with a galactic dispute.
• After confirming Trazyn had left, Horus set Fulgrim down and smashed the crystal display case door with the Talon of Horus.
• Horus walked out of the shattered case carrying the bewildered Fulgrim.

Horus fought his way through Solemnace’s defenses with Baby Fulgrim on his shoulder and reached the Central Control Room. Using his armour’s neural link, Liu Zhipeng accessed the museum’s network and began downloading its inventory, security map, and Stasis Field master control key.

• Solemnace activated its defenses after declaring Exhibit 001 out of control, and Horus rushed toward a maintenance passage with Baby Fulgrim riding on his shoulder.
• Horus evaded the turrets’ gauss beams and entered the passage as Solemnace deployed Wraiths to pursue him.
• Horus destroyed the Wraith squad that attacked him in the passage, while Baby Fulgrim watched and cheered.
• Horus reached the Central Control Room and connected his consciousness to Solemnace’s network through his armour.
• Liu Zhipeng bypassed the network’s defenses and began downloading Trazyn’s collection inventory, the museum’s map and security layout, and the Stasis Field master control key.

Liu deactivated the Stasis Fields holding loyalist Space Marines from the Horus Heresy in Trazyn’s Solemnace museum. The bewildered warriors awoke in an alien hall, uncertain where they were or how ten thousand years had passed.

• Liu ordered the Stasis Fields in several Horus Heresy exhibits to be deactivated.
• Letorion and the Emperor’s Children Phoenix Guard awoke mid-battle, found themselves in an empty alien hall, and checked their weapons and communications.
• The Fire Drakes awoke, and their captain initially raised his warhammer at the Emperor’s Children before Letorion convinced him they were loyalists.
• Stasis Fields across the hall deactivated in succession, awakening loyalists from the White Scars, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, Ultramarines, Raven Guard, and Luna Wolves.
• Hundreds of Space Marines confronted their surroundings in confusion as the Raven Guard began scouting the hall.

Imperial forces from different eras awoke in a Necron hall and attacked Horus when he appeared. Horus disarmed himself and revealed baby Fulgrim, who recognized Letorion.

• The Vostroyan First Regiment, Catachan 18th, and four Adeptus Custodes awoke and realized they were trapped in a xenos structure.
• Horus Lupercal emerged from the Central Control Room, and the Imperial Fists captain fired at him.
• The Space Marines, Vostroyans, and Catachans charged Horus, while the Custodians remained still and watched him.
• Horus set down Worldbreaker and the Talon of Horus, then brought baby Fulgrim out from behind his back.
• Baby Fulgrim pointed at Letorion, recognizing the Emperor's Children captain.

Horus declared that he and the infant Fulgrim were loyal, but the assembled Imperial forces initially rejected him. A golden will then compelled them to obey Horus, and he led them toward the Gene-seed Exhibition Hall to reclaim what belonged to them and escape the museum.

• Letorion and the Emperor’s Children recognized the infant Fulgrim, while the other Imperial warriors reacted with confusion.
• Horus announced that he and Fulgrim were loyal, prompting the Imperial Fists captain to condemn him as a traitor.
• Shield-Captain Valerian threatened Horus, but a golden will commanded everyone present to follow him.
• Valerian and the other Imperial warriors lowered their weapons and pledged obedience to Horus.
• Horus picked up Worldbreaker and the Talon of Horus and led the army toward the Gene-seed Exhibition Hall.

Horus led the assembled forces through Solemnace’s main exhibition, where they encountered a colossal Krork and a dangerous C’tan Shard. The group continued deeper into the vault and reached a preserved Interceptor specimen.

• Horus assigned the contingents their roles and led them into Solemnace’s main exhibition area.
• The group discovered a towering Krork, and Horus explained its origins and living biomechanical armour.
• The force encountered a C’tan Shard that chilled those who saw it and disturbed the Tech-Priest; Horus identified it as the primordial Dragon and pulled the Tech-Priest away.
• Valerian warned that the shard was distorting realspace, and Horus hurried the group onward.
• The group saw a preserved Interceptor whose psychic-plague aura recalled humanity’s Plague of Sorrows.

Horus led the Space Marines through Trazyn’s museum to a vault holding enough gene-seed to rebuild the Adeptus Astartes. As the group began taking it, baby Fulgrim spotted an overlooked crystal dataslate that left Horus breathless.

• Horus showed the Space Marines displays of Tyranids and Aeldari, then said humanity’s interests determined who counted as friend or enemy.
• Horus opened the Gene-seed Vault and revealed gene-seed from the Legions and their successors across the ages.
• Letorion wept at seeing untainted Emperor’s Children gene-seed, and the Space Marines celebrated the hope of rebuilding their Legions.
• Horus told the group the vault was Trazyn’s achievement and ordered them to take every gene-seed container.
• Horus set baby Fulgrim on a console and began explaining how to claim an inheritance.
• Baby Fulgrim pointed out an overlooked crystal dataslate, and Horus stopped short when he saw it.

Horus found a complete STC printout in Trazyn’s collection and led his troops aboard a Sword-class frigate. As they escaped Solemnace, he deactivated the stasis fields across the galleries and ordered the ship to bombard the chaos erupting inside.

• Horus recognized the chip as a complete Standard Template Construct printout and carefully stored it.
• Horus and his troops boarded a Sword-class frigate, took control of it, and prepared to leave Solemnace.
• Horus ordered the stasis fields across the galleries deactivated, awakening the Krork, the C’tan Shard, and countless other exhibits.
• As alarms reported widespread energy, biological, psychic, WAAAGH!, and Hive Mind activity, Horus ordered the frigate to fire on Solemnace’s central spire and other buildings.
• The frigate destroyed the central spire and bombarded the galleries before Horus steered it into space.

Horus refused to return to Terra immediately, but the frigate encountered the newly formed Great Rift and was caught in its warp storm. The ship and its crew vanished into the vortex as the Indomitus era began.

• Alcato and the other Space Marines urged Horus to return to Terra, while Valerian said their duty was to the Emperor.
• Horus said they would return to Terra, but not yet.
• The Ultramarine at the helm spotted a massive, galaxy-spanning wound in space and warned Horus.
• The Great Rift’s psychic horrors struck the crew, and Valerian shielded them while the ship’s Gellar Field overloaded.
• Horus recognized that Cadia had fallen and the Great Rift had opened.
• Horus clutched baby Fulgrim as the warp storm swept the frigate away.

After Horus's fleet emerged from a Warp Storm above the besieged planet Zelanis, he ordered an assault to secure the planet and its resources. As the defenders of Hope's Grasp faced imminent defeat, Imperial drop pods struck the Ork horde.

• Horus regained consciousness aboard his damaged fleet and learned that its position was unknown and its systems were crippled.
• The fleet received a Low Gothic distress signal from Zelanis, where Orks were overrunning the planet.
• Horus ordered repairs and prepared the Ultramarines, Vostroyans, Catachans, and Space Marines to seize the strongest human fortress.
• At Hope's Grasp, Commissar Oli and the exhausted defenders struggled to hold back the Orks while awaiting help.
• Imperial drop pods slammed into the Ork formation, and Aurelian's adjutant recognized them as the Emperor's angels.

Space Marines, Catachans, and Vostroyan soldiers broke the Ork assault at Hope's Grasp as Horus Lupercal arrived with the Adeptus Custodes and announced his return. Meanwhile, Trazyn discovered that Solemnace had become a chaotic battlefield and recruited Creed to help restore order.

• Space Marines, Catachans, and Vostroyan soldiers attacked the Orks and began turning the battle at Hope's Grasp.
• Valerian led the Adeptus Custodes from a Stormbird, and Commissar Oli rushed to greet them.
• Horus Lupercal emerged from the gunship, shocking Oli, then declared himself to the defenders of Hope's Grasp.
• Trazyn watched his Krork, Deceiver shard, Aeldari, Tyranids, and Freeblade Knights fight amid the ruins of Solemnace.
• Trazyn traced the security breach to a taunting signal, freed Creed from stasis, and asked him to advise his Wardens on quelling the museum riot.

Horus returned to Hope's Grasp with the Adeptus Custodes and demanded the planet's submission, leaving its leaders stunned and uncertain. He offered Sage Malthus a Data Crystal containing a complete STC as evidence of his authority.

• Horus announced his return in Hope's Grasp, shocking the defenders who recognized him as the Arch-Traitor.
• A junior Commissar urged the soldiers to fire, but Valerian deflected their shots and a Custodian threatened the Commissar into silence.
• Oli confronted Horus and demanded an explanation, but Horus declared that he was the explanation and that the people of the planet would become his subjects.
• Oli said he would only believe Horus if the Emperor spoke to him, so Horus summoned the highest-ranking Tech-Priest.
• Horus gave Sage Malthus a Data Crystal containing a complete STC, and Malthus connected a probe to examine it.

Horus secured the Adeptus Mechanicus and Commissar Oli’s allegiance, then led a strategy meeting to plan a strike against the Orks. The commanders identified Warboss Ugrul’s fortress as their target and discovered an unfinished Gargant there.

• Malthus recognized Horus’s complete STC and led the Adeptus Mechanicus in declaring their devotion to the Machine God and Horus.
• Horus ordered Oli to lead his soldiers against the routed Orks, and Oli accepted his command as Warmaster.
• At the Hope’s Grasp fortress conference, the Raven Guard captain reported that millions of Orks followed Warboss Ugrul, whose stronghold contained their arms factory and Big Mek’s laboratory.
• Alcato proposed killing Ugrul, while the Catachan Colonel urged a direct march through the southern swamps and the Raven Guard captain warned of its dangers.
• Horus showed the commanders an unfinished twenty-meter Gargant being assembled beside Ugrul’s volcanic fortress.

Horus devised a plan to destroy Ugrul’s prized Gargant and lure the Warboss out of his fortress, then led an elite strike team toward the volcano garage. The team reached the heavily guarded site and prepared to infiltrate it.

• Horus explained that destroying Ugrul’s Gargant would provoke the Warboss into leaving his fortress, and the Space Wolf confirmed the plan could work.
• Horus ordered Alcato to stage a major assault on an Ork mining site while he led the White Scars, Raven Guard, and Space Wolves to plant Melta Bombs on the Gargant; Valerian was assigned to look after Fulgrim.
• At midnight, Alcato’s diversionary assault lit the eastern horizon as Horus’s strike team crossed Death’s Jaw toward the Volcano Fortress.
• The Space Wolves and other Astartes silently eliminated Ork patrols along the route without raising the alarm.
• Horus’s team reached the fortress and spotted the garage, where elite Tinboyz guarded the entrances and Gretchin and Mekboyz worked on the Gargant.

Horus and his allies infiltrated an Ork fortress and destroyed the nearly completed Gargant, provoking Warboss Ugrul to charge after them. Horus waited at Death’s Jaw canyon as Ugrul and his bodyguards approached, ready to spring an ambush.

• The Raven Guard captain killed the Big Mek while the White Scars silently eliminated the Ork sentries and seized the watchtowers.
• Horus led Valerian and the Space Wolves into the garage, where the Salamanders prepared Melta Bombs to destroy the Gargant’s unstable reactor.
• Horus spray-painted “[Horus was here]” and a mocking Aquila onto the Gargant before the team withdrew.
• The explosion destroyed the Gargant and devastated the volcanic fortress, leaving Ugrul grieving and furious.
• After finding Horus’s painted message on a piece of armor, Ugrul charged toward Death’s Jaw canyon with hundreds of elite Nob bodyguards.
• Horus positioned himself at the canyon entrance and ordered his allies into ambush positions as Ugrul approached.

Horus killed Ugrul Big Stinkfoot, causing the Orks’ united psychic field to collapse and their army to turn on itself. Alcato ordered the Imperial Fists to advance and bombard the fighting Orks.

• Ugrul charged Horus, while Horus signaled the Space Wolves, White Scars, and Raven Guard to wipe out Ugrul’s Nob bodyguards with a volley of fire.
• Horus fought Ugrul in the canyon, breaking his leg and axe-wielding wrist before killing him with Worldbreaker.
• Ugrul’s death caused the Orks’ psychic field to collapse, leaving their formations confused.
• The Orks began fighting each other over who would become the next boss.
• Alcato ordered the Imperial Fists to contract their shield wall, advance their weapons, and bombard the areas where the Orks were fighting.

Horus’s forces eliminated the Orks on Zelanis, ending the planet’s long Green-Skin Plague, while its people celebrated their liberation. Horus then set Zelanis on a path to become an arsenal and instructed Sage Malthus to combine the STC with alien technologies to create new weapons and equipment.

• Alcato’s forces and the White Scars and Raven Guard hunted down the Orks across Zelanis and destroyed the last tribe in an abandoned mining valley.
• The people of Hope’s Grasp celebrated the victory, while Horus watched Fulgrim play with the star map and considered Zelanis’s future.
• Horus told the leaders gathered at Hope’s Grasp that Zelanis would become the foundation and arsenal for his plans.
• Horus gave Sage Malthus the complete STC and ordered him to analyze, replicate, and improve upon it.
• Horus shared principles of living metal, phase technology, and Gauss energy transfer, and Malthus pledged to pursue what he called sacred fusion.